RGA slams European Parliament as it adopts egaming resolution
Online gambling trade association criticises new industry report as European Parliament votes through recommendations
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has branded elements of an online gambling resolution as “fundamentally wrong” and “unjustified”, after the European Parliament this afternoon voted through the measures.
The Parliament’s resolution follows last year’s publication of an action plan on online gambling led by Conservative MEP Ashley Fox which sought to address what it described as “dangerous” links between gambling and hardship.
The resolution also targeted the integrity of sport to which it argued the online gambling industry posed a threat. As such, it has called for the prohibition of all in-running sports betting due what it sees as its ‘venerability’ to match-fixing.
However, while the RGA said it welcomed some aspects of the resolution, it felt the report contained “unsubstantiated views about the online gambling sector” which have been used to call for restrictions on certain gambling products.
In a statement, the RGA said: “The RGA shares the European Parliament’s desire to safeguard the integrity of sports. However, it is fundamentally wrong to imply that the licensed betting industry presents the threat.
“On the contrary, it is proactively working with various national and international organisations, such as the IOC and Council of Europe, to help identify and combat the real causes for concern that tend to be associated with criminal enterprises and corrupt sporting participants.
“Against this background, the unjustified call for restrictions on certain betting products is wrong and, even worse, would be ineffective. Quite simply, there is no evidence to suggest that certain types of bet when offered by licensed operators present any noticeable match-fixing risks.”
DLA Piper senior counsel and experience gaming lawyer Guilio Coraggio told eGaming Review that some of the measures laid out were unworkable while the resolution itself was unenforceable and only intended to illustrate the current position of Parliament.
“In-running betting represents a large part of the revenues for sports betting operators and a ban on them would risk to considerably harm their business,” he said. “It could also push players to gamble on non-EU gaming websites that offer less stringent protections because of their better gaming offering.”
Other recommendations within the report included harmonising national gambling tax regimes to prevent disproportionate tax concessions and the implementation of a compulsory third-party identification control in order to exclude minors or those using fake identities from online gambling.